Two measles cases in King County, possible exposures in Seattle

Public Health – Seattle & King County has confirmed measles infection in a 6-month-old infant and the infant’s father, both King County residents who had recently traveled to Asia. The infant and the adult were both unimmunized. Before they were diagnosed, they may have exposed others to the measles at a few public locations.

What to do if you were in a location of potential measles exposure

Most people in our area have immunity to the measles through vaccination, so the risk to the general public is low. However, anyone who was in the following locations around the same time as the individuals with measles should:

Find out if they have been vaccinated for measles or have had measles previously, and

Call a health care provider promptly if they develop an illness with fever or illness with an unexplained rash between March 21 and April 8, 2017. To avoid possibly spreading measles to other patients, do not go to a clinic or hospital without calling first to tell them you want to be evaluated for measles.

Locations of potential exposure to measles

Before they were diagnosed with measles, the infected individuals were in the following public locations. Anyone who was at the following locations during the times listed was possibly exposed to measles:

If you were at the locations at the times listed above and are not immune to measles, the most likely time you would become sick is between March 21, 2017 and April 8, 2017.

About measles

Measles is a highly contagious and potentially severe disease that causes fever, rash, cough, and red, watery eyes. It is mainly spread through the air after a person with measles coughs or sneezes.

Measles symptoms begin seven to 21 days after exposure. Measles is contagious from approximately four days before the rash appears through four days after the rash appears. People can spread measles before they have the characteristic measles rash.

People at highest risk from exposure to measles include those who are unvaccinated, pregnant women, infants under six months of age and those with weakened immune systems.

2 thoughts on “Two measles cases in King County, possible exposures in Seattle”

I expect the public will be provided the vaccination status of all cases of measles in WA state this year? So far only two cases have been attributed to individuals who were not immune. One is a parent who either would have been vaccinated (vaccine failure) or had the measles as a child. The infant was too young to be vaccinated. As a resident of WA state I expect transparency from the health department, and that transparency includes vaccination status of those persons associated with an outbreak.